Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.

History

The Khanty and Mansi, Ob-Ugric peoples whose languages are related to Hungarian, lived here for centuries by fishing, hunting and herding reindeer. After 1582 a church was built at Samarovo near where the Irtysh meets the Ob, and in 1594 Surgut was founded on the orders of Tsar Feodor I as a base for settling Siberia. The okrug was created on 10 December 1930 as the Ostyak-Vogul National Okrug, renamed Khanty-Mansi in 1940, and given 'Yugra' as part of its name in 2003. Oil development transformed the region: in 2012 it produced more than half of Russia's oil.

Culture & traditions

The Khanty and Mansi languages are officially recognised in the okrug. The most vivid Ob-Ugric ritual is the bear festival: among the Khanty it lasts five to six days and includes more than 300 songs and performances. In spring the Khanty celebrate Crow Day. During the hunting and fishing season the Khanty built light dwellings of birch bark, branches and poles. Khanty-Mansiysk is also known for its chess academy.

Nature

The main river is the Ob with its tributary the Irtysh; large lakes include Numto, Tormemtor, Leushinsky Tuman and Tursuntsky Tuman. The Yugansky Nature Reserve, created in 1982, protects some 650,000 hectares of taiga and bog, home to bears, lynx, wolverines, elk and forest reindeer. The climate is harsh and subarctic: Surgut has recorded frosts down to −55°C.

Sport

Khanty-Mansiysk is a biathlon centre that hosted the World Championships in 2003 and 2011. It also hosted the 2010 Chess Olympiad, several Chess World Cups and the 2015 Winter Deaflympics. The city is home to the hockey club HC Yugra.

Food & drink

Traditional Khanty and Mansi food follows their ways of life: fishing in the many rivers and lakes, hunting in the taiga and herding reindeer. Fish and game still hold an important place on the northern table.

Practical information

Most visitors fly in: both Khanty-Mansiysk and Surgut have airports, and Surgut's Farman Salmanov Airport has flights to Moscow and Saint Petersburg, among others. Railways and more than 18,000 km of roads cross the okrug, and river boats run on the Ob. Local time is Moscow plus two hours. Summers are short and winters long and frosty; summer is the easiest time to visit, while winter suits snow and biathlon fans.

What to see

• Khanty-Mansiysk — a city near the Irtysh–Ob confluence and a biathlon capital
• Surgut Bridge over the Ob — the world's longest single-pylon cable-stayed bridge
• Yugansky Nature Reserve — wild taiga and bogs of Western Siberia
• Lake Numto — one of the okrug's large lakes
• Samarovo — an old village near the river confluence whose Church of the Intercession dates back to after 1582

Cities on the map

• Khanty-Mansiysk 101,466